Block · one region of the page, as the scanner read it. It may hold a whole story, part of one, several, or an advertisement; stitching blocks into articles is the next step. Text is supplied OCR.
Page 15 · column 3 of 6 · from the scan, no model involved
and bring to mind specific images and events, and arouse deep emotions. Well, that’s a pretty good definition of poetry. But out of modesty and misunderstanding, we don’t call that ‘Poetry.’ No, for lots of people, capital-P-poetry is something we see in those big, dull books — the stuff you can’t understand, the stuff Mrs. Crabapple made you write themes about in the seventh grade.
“Those readers don’t get to make the connection between the very personal words that mean so much to them and all the wonderful words written by poets which might also mean a great deal to them.
“So, I like to talk about poetry and get other people excited about it. It’s just a question of nudging the door open a little. And I’m always amazed by the variety of people who like to read and write poems. Right now, in my graduate poetry classes, I have a stone mason, two nurses, a woman who is a lawyer, a salesman, a department store saleswoman, a young guy who used to write for a rock-and-roll magazine, another guy who had the opportunity to play pro football and turned it down, the foreman at a large cement contracting company, a secretary for the CIA, and a young woman who gave up her job at an oil company in Madras, India, to study poetry in Virginia.
“For all these people, and for many more, poetry is very important. You know, I originally went to college to be a veterinarian? And every time I take my dog in for a check-up, I wonder where I went wrong!”
For poetry books, information about the Voices and Visions series, or to register for the series, contact the Rappahannock County Library (675-3780).
95.0%